Yuzawa Now: Monday 12th December 2016
- Dec 12, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 53cm
Posted on Monday 12th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
That was a very satisfying weekend! Lots of snow falling and the first real 'mid-winter feel' of the season, at town level anyway. Dare I say it, it felt more like two seasons ago than last season. Check the archive reports to see what I mean by that! But, lets not get too over-excited just yet...
So it was snowing for most of the day yesterday and heavily at times too. I have recorded another 15cm of snowfall since my report yesterday morning. There's a nice blanket of snow everywhere this morning.
And what a morning it is too! The sun is out and we have clear blue skies over Yuzawa. Stunning. It is a fairly cold start to the morning but will warm up a bit, to perhaps around +4C this afternoon.
Tomorrow is going to be warmer still and later on in the day it's looking like we are going to get rained on in lower elevations. The good news is that by Wednesday it should be snowing again.
In most seasons we do actually get a layer of snow down in town that melts away before we get the snow that remains for the winter. What will it be this season? Will this layer remain? We'll just have to wait and see what happens day by day, and I will of course bring you the latest every morning.
I was half expecting Maiko Snow Resort to say they might be opening this morning, but as of 9am there is no word from them yet. They did mention that they had 30cm of snow at the base of the resort yesterday afternoon though. Iwappara and Joetsu Kokusai also remain 'on standby'.
Resort-specific info as of Monday 12th December 2016
Ski resorts that are currently open in the region:
Kagura
Almost all of Kagura is now open. They are reporting 15-20cm of fresh snow overnight.
Official snow depth:
Kagura - 120cm
Mitsumata - 80cm
Tashiro - 100cm
Naeba
The lower slopes of Naeba are open.
Official snow depth: 60cm
Planned opening dates for other resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date):
Opening as soon as there is enough snow:
Iwappara
Joetsu Kokusai
Maiko Snow Resort
Friday 16th December:
Muica Snow Resort
Yuzawa Park
Saturday 17th December:
GALA Yuzawa
Kandatsu Kogen
Ludens Yuzawa
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
Nakazato Snow Wood
Yuzawa Kogen
Yuzawa Nakazato
Wednesday 21st December:
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Thursday 22nd December:
NASPA Ski Garden
Friday 23rd December:
Chateau Shiozawa
Ipponsugi
Itsukamachi
Saturday 24th December:
Hakkai Sanroku
Mt Granview
Wednesday 28th December:
Ishiuchi Hanaoka
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'Nighta' (floodlit night operations)
Below are details of the planned 'nighta' operations at ski and snowboards resorts around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma this season. This information is subject to change due to snow and weather conditions.
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Daily from 23rd December 2016 until 19th March 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 8:50pm.
The Chuo Number 1, Chuo Number 2 and Kanko Number 3 Express lifts are open daily.
The Kanko Number 1 Express lift, Hatsukaishi Entrance lift and Hatsukaishi Number 2 pair lifts are also open on weekends and holidays.
Iwappara
Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm on Saturdays and until 8pm on weekdays and Sundays.
The Main course, Grand course and West courses are open during nighta.
Joetsu Kokusai
Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm.
The area in front of the main base hotel is open for nighta.
Kandatsu Kogen
'Hobo All Night' ('Almost All Night') is on Fridays, Saturdays and nights before holidays between 29th December 2016 and 1st April 2017.
The nighta opening times on those days is from 6pm until 4am the following morning.
Maiko Snow Resort
Daily from 28th December 2016 until 19th March 2017.
Nighta is from 4pm until 8pm.
The Maiko center quad lift on the Maiko Side of the resort operates for nighta.
Naeba
Daily from 17th December 2016 until 26th March 2017.
Nighta is from 4pm until 8:30pm.
Part of the lower area of the resort is usually open for nighta.
NASPA Ski Garden
'Thanks' (extended) opening on Saturdays in December, January and February and also on 23rd December and from 30th December until 8th January 2017.
On those days the Number 1 lift is open until 6pm.
Yuzawa Nakazato
Every Saturday from 7th January until 11th March 2017, 29th December until 3rd January, 8th January 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 8:30pm.
The Number 2 pair lift operates during nighta.
Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Monday 12th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 53cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 6 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 51cm reported on 5 days |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Yuzawa. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report.